NEW YORK — Banks
and some pundits had predicted that credit card users would face
skyrocketing interest rates, a spike in annual fees and a plethora of
other negatives after stringent new rules on cards kicked in last year.

That
is not what happened, according to a new look at the policies
associated with credit cards issued by major banks and credit unions.
The Pew Charitable Trusts Safe Credit Cards Project found instead that
interest rates are steady with those charged last year, while most fees
have dropped.

The stabilization of interest rates is key, because
banks sharply raised rates in 2009 following the law's passage but
before its implementation.

"Whatever increases in advertised
interest rates we saw going into 2010 have not continued into 2011,"
said Nick Bourke, director of the Safe Credit Cards Project.

Median
advertised interest rates for purchases on cards issued by banks are
ranging from 12.99 percent to 20.99 percent, depending on a customer's
credit history, according to the Pew study released today.
Credit union rates increased slightly from last year to between 9.99
percent and 17 percent. Penalty interest rates charged to those who make
late payments, and cash advance interest rates have also held steady.

One
caveat the study doesn't address, however, is that most credit cards
now carry variable rates, so if the prime rate starts to rise, that
would lead to consumers paying higher rates on their cards.

After
examining credit card offers made in January compared with those of
prior years, Pew also found that transaction surcharges for cash
advances, balance transfers and international purchases changed only
slightly. The study reviewed offers from the 12 largest banks and 12
largest credit union card issuers. Together those institutions control
more than 90 percent of the outstanding credit card debt in the country.

"Consumers
are enjoying safer, more transparently priced credit cards — and banks
and credit unions are able to compete on a more level playing field,"
Bourke said. The credit card regulations "created a new equilibrium
where a number of policies the organization found "unfair or deceptive" a
year ago have disappeared.

Among the study's findings:

Penalty fees have dropped. A
provision in the law that requires penalty fees to be "reasonable and
proportional" for violations such as late payments led the Federal
Reserve to cap penalty fees at $25, or up to $35 if it happens a second
time in six months. That pushed the cost of fees down from a previous
median of $39. Credit union cards remain at $25. More than 95 percent of
cards charge late fees if payments don't arrive on time.

Overlimit fees are now rare. Only
11 percent of bank-issued credit cards now have fees for charging more
than the limit on a card, down from 23 percent a year ago. The largest
credit unions have eliminated overlimit fees altogether.

Annual fees have not proliferated. The
widespread expectation that most banks would start charging card users
annual fees to make up for lost revenue was off the mark, although the
number did rise significantly. Researchers found that 21 percent of
banks charge an annual fee, up from 14 percent a year ago. The rate for
credit unions remains stable at 14 percent.